John Cooper Challenge Rounds 7 & 8

Castle Combe circuit in Wiltshire will play host to Rounds 7 & 8 of the John

Cooper Challenge on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th June.

With half the season gone, the S-Class championship is looking like it will

be as close as last year with Andy Sayle (46, Congleton) narrowly leading

Arthur Forster (37, Newcastle). After not scoring in Round 6 after an

accident Forster is sure to be more determined than ever to beat his friend

and rival Sayle. The two Northern racers have been inseparable on the track

this season and they look set to continue to provide spectators and Sky

viewers with spectacular bumper-to-bumper racing to watch.

Sixteen-year-old T-Cars graduate, Freddy Nordstrom (Weybridge) will be

looking to continue an impressive run of form that saw him take his maiden

victory at Thruxton. The schoolboy racer is still 9 months away from taking

his road car driving test but has shown that this is no impediment when it

comes to piloting his 210bhp Works MINI Cooper S. The youngest competitor in

the Challenge has managed to fight his way onto the podium three times this

season, ensuring he will be a contender for the title at the end of the

season.

At Thruxton the big news was in the Club Class where novice racer, David

Shepherd (20, Sandbach) managed two impressive victories against an

experienced field. The dreadlocked animation student seemed fearless at

Thruxton and twice beat championship leader Barney Craggs (33, Clapham) who

is in his fourth season in the Challenge. His incredible victories mark the

first time in the Challenge's history that a novice racer has won a race.

Shepherd's rapid progress, will make other competitors additionally wary of

the Cheshire youngster at Castle Combe.

Although the top step of the podium eluded Craggs in the Club Class at

Thruxton, the Clapham racer was far from despondent with his results. The

London racer's legendary consistency means that he is comfortably ahead of

his nearest rivals most of whom have failed to finish at least one round.

Stephen Campbell (20, Catford) may have seen his title ambitions slip away

from him with a crash in the Round 1 and a clutch failure in Round 5 robbing

him of valuable points. Despite the set-backs, Campbell should never be

discounted and has shown he has the pace with a double-victory in Rounds 3 &

4 at Croft.

Re-joining the grid in his 133 bhp Work MINI Cooper, will be property

developer and father of three, Graham Parsons (45, Brighton) who is

returning to the Challenge after missing the first half of the season with

work commitments. This season will be Graham's fourth in the series and with

so many rounds missed, he will be going all out for results without worrying

about his championship position. This Button-esque approach to the remainder

of the season should ensure that Parsons is always going for broke, rather

than settling for a safe points finish.

Former 2CV racer and current BRSCC Fiesta competitor, Katie Croucher (25,

Chichester) will be joining the John Cooper Challenge grid at Combe.

Professional Racing Instructor, Croucher is racing in the car of one of her

pupils Andrew Stuart (24, Livingstone) who is unable to race at Combe.

Croucher will be one of three ladies on the grid with Susan Cox (38,

Battersea) and Rachel Owen (24, Bangor) also fighting it out with the men in

the competitive Club Class.

With the points totals close in both classes of the John Cooper Challenge it

is impossible to say who will be the champion in either. With the drivers

seem to be so evenly matched, spectators at Castle Combe are assured of some

very close and exciting racing in Rounds 7 & 8.

The John Cooper Challenge is the official race series for the MINI in the UK

and is now in its fourth season. The packed twenty-eight car grid is split

into two classes, with nine 210 bhp Works MINI Cooper S and nineteen 133 bhp

Works MINI Cooper cars.